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16 Mar 2009 : Column 936W—continued
Work Permits: Overseas Students
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether post-study work arrangements for international students will remain unchanged for the next academic year. [264035]
Mr. Woolas: From 31 March the UK Border Agency will no longer award points under the Tier 1 Post-Study route for Postgraduate Diplomas or Postgraduate Certificates other than Postgraduate Certificates of Education. These changes were laid before Parliament on 9 March 2009 in Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 314.
Energy and Climate Change
Departmental Higher Civil Servants
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many senior civil servants his Department employs, broken down by pay band. [257589]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has been formed by bringing together work previously covered by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The final details of staff transferring from these departments are yet to be confirmed.
However, the current indicative numbers for Senior Civil Servants (SCS) are as follows (expressed as Full- Time Equivalents or FTE):
| Number | |
Electricity Generation
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much electricity was distributed through the national grid in each of the last 10 years. [263020]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The specific data requested are not available. However, the following table shows the electricity supplied through the transmission and distribution systems of both Great Britain and Northern Ireland along with electricity produced by companies as part of their manufacturing or other commercial activities. The period covered is 1970 to 2007. Provisional 2008 data on this basis will be published on 26 March 2009.
| Electricity supplied (net) GWh (1) | |
| Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2008, internet only long-term trends annex to Chapter 7. | |
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much and what proportion of electricity imported through the international grid originated in each country of origin in the last 12 months. [263104]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Provisional data for 2008 show that the UK imported 12.14 TWh of electricity (99 per cent.) through the interconnector with France and 0.15 TWh (1 per cent.) of electricity through the interconnector with the Republic of Ireland. UK suppliers may have contracted with generators in other continental European countries for some of this imported electricity but details of these contracts are not held centrally.
Electricity: Exports
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much electricity the UK exported through the UK grid in each year for which figures are available. [263099]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Exports of electricity through the interconnectors to France and to the Republic of Ireland in the most recent available years are as follows:
| GWh | |
| (1 )Figures for 2008 are provisional. Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2008, Table 5.2. | |
Energy Supply
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of properties which experienced a loss of power supply (a) in England and (b) in Leicester in the last (i) week, (ii) month and (iii) 12 months. [256679]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The latest audited data from Ofgem are for 2007-08. Each household or meter point experiencing a power cut is counted as one interruption.
It is not possible to split the data for the areas requested but for Great Britain there were 22,022,045 electricity supply interruptions. On average this will be 423,501 a week and 1,835,170 a month.
The distribution network operator for Leicester is Central Networks East, which serves 2,576,436 customers across the east midlands. For 2007-08 there were 2,153,411 electricity supply interruptions in its area. On average this will be 41,412 a week and 179,451 a month.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of properties which on average have experienced a loss of power supply (a) nationally and (b) in Winchester in each (i) week, (ii) month and (iii) year of the last five years. [257791]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 23 February 2009]: The latest audited data from Ofgem is for 2007-08. Each household or meter point experiencing a power cut is counted as one interruption.
Averaged over the last five years for Great Britain there were (i) 437,095 electricity supply interruptions each week, (ii) 1,894,079 electricity supply interruptions each month and (iii) 22,728,946 electricity supply interruptions each year.
The distribution network operator serving Winchester is Southern Electric Power Distribution, which serves 2,876,427 customers across central southern England. Averaged over the last five years for its area there were (i) 46,692 electricity supply interruptions each week, (ii) 202,330 electricity supply interruptions each month and (iii) 2,427,960 electricity supply interruptions each year.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the contribution made by renewable energy to UK energy security; and if he will make a statement. [263101]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Our assessment of the contribution made by renewable energy to UK energy security was most recently set out in our Renewable Energy Strategy consultation document, which was published in June 2008, and can be accessed at
We are updating this analysis as part of the development of the Renewable Energy Strategy, which we will publish later in spring 2009.
EU Emissions Trading Scheme
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the Government’s policy is on hypothecating the receipts from the auctioning of EU Emissions Trading Scheme permits for expenditure on low-carbon energy projects. [255948]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Government’s spending priorities are not, in general, determined by the way in which the money is raised. Hypothecating revenues to particular spending programmes imparts inflexibility in spending decisions and can lead to a misallocation of resources, with reduced value for money for taxpayers.
However, the Government recognise the need for investment in low carbon energy and other technologies, and their policy framework is already driving significant activity in this sector, for example, through the renewables obligation and the Environmental Transformation Fund.
The revised EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) directive, to apply from 2013, does not contain any legally binding requirements on member states to hypothecate auction revenues. The UK Government support this approach.
In addition to the directive, EU member states have made a non-legally binding commitment to spend at least half of the revenues from auctioning to tackle climate change both in the EU and in developing countries. This will include reducing emissions, adapting to climate change, reducing deforestation and developing renewable technologies. The Government are content with this approach, which we believe will provide a strong signal of the EU’s willingness to invest in a low carbon economy and offer support to the international community ahead of negotiations in Copenhagen at the end of this year.
Fuel Poverty
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the groups of vulnerable people that are most likely to be in fuel poverty; and what account is being taken of the needs of cancer patients in considering existing fuel poverty policies and objectives. [263387]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 13 March 2009]: The Department monitors the number of vulnerable households that are in fuel poverty. For this purpose, vulnerable households include all households containing children, the elderly or somebody who is sick or disabled.
In 2006, of 15.2 million vulnerable households in England, 1.9 million (13 per cent.) were fuel poor. The following table gives a detailed breakdown for each vulnerable group and is based on the latest figures available for England, for 2006.
| Number of households (thousand) | |||
| Household contains at least one person: | Fuel poor | Total | Percentage of households fuel poor |
| Note: That the sum of the groups do not sum to the total, as some households are in more than one group. | |||
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